Academia and Forklifts

I’ve found, in some unlikely situations, hands-on value in some of the abstract concepts and critical thinking skills I learned from my earlier scholarly pursuits in college.

About 20 years ago, I earned a Bachelor's degree in journalism with a minor in political science from the University of Missouri. Courses in literature, English and the social sciences made up the core of my curriculum. I sidestepped taking any math and science classes.

Yes, my lack of technical expertise did put some constraints on what kind of jobs I could get after graduation. However, I was able to apply language and critical thinking skills to understanding the meanings of words and concepts, and thereby understand new concepts and instructions in the workplace more easily and quickly.

Perhaps, it's not surprising that I used this advantage in landing many of the jobs I landed immediately after graduating, which were in radio broadcasting. However, as the years passed, my career path took many twists and turns. I’ve used this proficiency to my advantage in some of my more recent jobs in the most unlikely of settings, such as driving a fork truck on a shipping and receiving dock. Because of my indirect and veiled educational benefit, I can remember numerous times defending my schooling as a worthwhile undertaking to my factory co-workers.

I’m hoping, however, to remove some of the constraints I've faced in many of my workplaces by making up some of the technical deficiencies I have with my technical management education I'm presently getting from DeVry University. This is especially true for me in information technology.

The Terrible Loss of Lennon

Thirty years ago, John Lennon, one of the most imaginative, insightful and unpretentious celebrities to have ever lived, was gunned down in a senseless act of violence. Of course, his impressive compilation of music lives on. Unfortunately, so does the memory of his tragic death.

While watching my tiny, 13-inch TV in my University of Missouri college dorm room on this date in 1980, I learned about Lennon’s murder. The New England Patriots were battling the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football, and the usually brash Howard Cosell humbly broke the news to millions of viewers.

"Yes, we have to say it. Remember this is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses. An unspeakable tragedy confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City: John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous, perhaps, of all of The Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival. Hard to go back to the game after that news flash, which in duty bound, we have to take."
-Howard Cosell

After the game, Ted Koppel on ‘ABC News Nightline’ put the Iranian hostage crisis on the backburner and led with the Lennon story.



The next day, Yoko Ono, forced into the role of being John’s widow, requested that there be no funeral.

"There is no funeral for John. John loved and prayed for the human race. Please do the same for him. Love, Yoko and Sean."
-Yoko Ono

That, however, didn’t stop the outpouring of grief. Spontaneous vigils were held globally…and on the following Sunday (Dec. 14, 1980), nearly a half-million mourners gathered in New York City’s Central Park to pay their respects.



Personally, this was a very distressing time for me. Ronald Reagan had recently become the President-elect. Together with the loss of Lennon, I was certain World War III was just around the corner.

Fortunately, my bleak assessment didn’t come to pass. But, I often wonder how things would be today if John Lennon were still alive. He’d be 70 now….and he’d most certainly would be able to boast of an even vaster music anthology that would continue to demonstrate his brilliance. And perhaps, the actual course of history would have been altered. I absolutely believe the world would be a better place in this alternate universe.

Yes, I Once Wrote for a Newspaper...Really!

Back in 1981, I worked a stretch as a sports reporter at the Columbia Missourian, a daily, commercial newspaper run by the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Since then, I often went around bragging about how I once was a sportswriter. But, I had no proof...until now.

Thanks to some wonderfully diligent librarians at Mizzou's journalism library, I was able to retrieve some long lost samples of my work. After tracking down the articles on microfilm (They have every issue of the Missourian dating back to 1923.), the library sent me several PDF files of stories with my byline. Then, I conveted these to JPG.

Now,Jay Mariotti's job isn't in any danger, but here's some of the samples. All the stories were about track. This is a preview I wrote about an upcoming meet for Mizzou.

The second set is my story about the local high school (the Hickman Kewpies) winning the state title in girls track.

My stint as a sports reporter ended shortly after these stories were published because I had to withdraw from Mizzou for personal reasons. I did graduate later but my emphasis was changed to broadcast news.

UPDATE:

FYI, I wrote and submitted the girls state track meet story on the day it happened, Saturday, May 30, 1981. The Missourian published it the next day in their Sunday edition for May 31, 1981. I'm still uncertain on the exact date for my other Missourian story, but I believe it was published the week before.